Woodland Park is well outside our circulation area, which is why you won't see any pontificating in this corner about the
proposed Wal-mart there. But as one Westsider to another, don't you think the debate ought to include a consideration of that
town's driving habits? It's fine and dandy that an apparently sizeable number of Woodland residents cherish their “mountain
lifestyle,” but how many of them commute to Colorado Springs so they can afford it?
How many of them (perish the thought!) drive down to shop at the Wal-mart on Eighth Street? Of course they wouldn't want to
be recognized. Maybe when Rio Grande got torn up last year at Eighth Street, it was partly to install a tunnel (a la the Colorado
City of yore) to allow Woodland Parkers to shop incognito.
In all seriousness, the traffic from Ute Pass has surely sped up the timetable for the probable widening of Westside Highway 24
and become a major nuisance for the Pleasant Valley neighborhood. Thirty-first Street is a rush-hour funnel from Highway 24 to
Fillmore Street. A shortcut to northbound I-25? The straightest shot to labor-intensive Garden of the Gods Road? Who can say
for sure? All that's certain is the stream of vehicles roaring down the pass in the morning and chugging back up at night.
From a certain standpoint, I can see why Woodland people would feel oppressed by a Wal-Mart amidst the beauty of where
they live and why they're ready to fight it till the last lawyer left standing. But why should that victory, if they achieve it, be at our
expense?